HE WAS A well-known man, and was in a position to harm others, which he did not hesitate to do. He was cunningly shallow, devoid of generosity, and worked to his own advantage. He said he was not too keen to talk things over, but circumstances had forced him to come, and here he was. From everything he said and did not say, it was fairly clear that he was very ambitious and shaped the people about him; he was ruthless when it paid, and gentle when he wanted something. He had consideration for those above him, treated his equals with condescending tolerance, and of those below him he was utterly unaware. He never so much as glanced at the chauffeur who brought him. His money made him suspicious, and he had few friends, He talked of his children as though they were toys to amuse him, and he could not bear to be alone, he said. Someone had hurt him, and he could not retaliate because that person was beyond his reach; so he was taking it out of those he could reach. He was unable to understand why he was being unnecessarily brutal, why he wanted to hurt those whom he said he loved. As he talked, he slowly began to thaw and became almost friendly. It was the friendliness of the moment whose warmth would be shut off instantly if it were thwarted or if anything were asked of it. As nothing was being asked of him, he was free and temporarily affectionate.
他是一个众所周知的人， 所处的地位，可伤害别人，而他，毫不犹豫地做了。 他狡猾地肤浅，不大方，为自己的利益而工作。 他说他不太热衷于谈论事情， 但环境迫使他来了，他到了这儿。 从他所说的和没有说出的一切中， 很明显他雄心勃勃，塑造着他周围的人； 当他要付出代价时，他是无情的；当他想要某些东西时，他是温柔的。 他斟酌那些高于他的人，以居高临下的宽容对待于他同级的人， 而对他下面的人，则完全忽视。 他从来不会多瞧一眼他的司机。 他的钱让他起了疑心，而且他的朋友很少， 他谈论他的孩子们，好像他们是逗他开心的玩具， 他不能忍受独自一人，他说。 有人伤害了他，他不能报复，因为那个人是他无法企及的。 所以他迁怒于他身边的人。 他无法理解为什么他不必要地残忍， 为什么他想伤害那些说他爱的人。 当他说话时，他慢慢地开始解冻，几乎变得友好。 那是片刻的友好， 如果它被挫败或有任何要求，他们的温暖将立即被关闭。 由于没有对他提出任何要求，他自由了，暂时有了感情。
The desire to do harm, to hurt another, whether by a word, by a gesture, or more deeply, is strong in most of us; it is common and frighteningly pleasant. The very desire not to be hurt makes for the hurting of others; to harm others is a way of defending oneself. This self-defence takes peculiar forms, depending on circumstances and tendencies. How easy it is to hurt another, and what gentleness is needed not to hurt! We hurt others because we ourselves are hurt, we are so bruised by our own conflicts and sorrows. The more we are inwardly tortured, the greater the urge to be outwardly violent. Inward turmoil drives us to seek outward protection; and the more one defends oneself, the greater the attack on others.
害人的欲望，伤人的欲望， 无论是通过一句话，通过手势，还是更深刻的，在我们大多数人中都很强烈； 它是常见的、令人恐惧的快乐。 不想被伤害的欲望，造成了对他人的伤害。 伤害他人，是一种保护自我的方式。 这种自我防御，根据情况和趋势而采取特定的形式。 伤害别人是多么地容易， 不去伤害，需要多么温柔！ 我们伤害别人，因为我们自己也受到了伤害， 我们被自己的冲突和悲伤，弄得伤痕累累。 我们内心越是受折磨，就越有外在的暴力冲动。 内在的动荡，驱使我们寻求外在的保护； 一个人越是保护自我，对他人的攻击就越大。
What is it that we defend, that we so carefully guard? Surely, it is the idea of ourselves, at whatever level. If we did not guard the idea, the centre of accumulation, there would be no “me” and “mine.” We would then be utterly sensitive, vulnerable to the ways of our own being, the conscious as well as the hidden; but as most of us do not desire to discover the process of the “me”, we resist any encroachment upon the idea of ourselves. The idea of ourselves is wholly superficial; but as most of us live on the surface, we are content with illusions.
我们保护的是什么，我们如此小心翼翼捍卫的是什么？ 当然，它是我们自己的观念，无论在哪个层面上。 如果我们不守护这个观念，这个积蓄中心，就不会有‘我’和‘我的’。 我们就会变得完全地敏感， 易于感受我们整个存在的方式，无论在意识中还是在隐匿处； 但是，由于我们大多数人并不想发现‘我’的行迹， 我们抵制任何对我们自己的观念的侵犯。 我们自己的观念，完全是肤浅的； 但是由于我们大多数人生活在表面，我们满足于幻想。
The desire to do harm to another is a deep instinct. We accumulate resentment, which gives a peculiar vitality, a feeling of action and life; and what is accumulated must be expended through anger, insult, depreciation, obstinacy, and through their opposites. It is this accumulation of resentment that necessitates forgiveness – which becomes unnecessary if there is no storing up of the hurt.
伤害他人的欲望，是一种深刻的本能。 我们积蓄怨恨，这给人一种奇特的生命力，一种行动和生命的感觉； 而积攒下来的 必须通过愤怒、侮辱、贬损、顽抗和它们的对立面来释放。 正是这种怨恨的积蓄，需要宽恕 —— 如果没有积攒伤害，宽恕就没有必要。
Why do we store up flattery and insult, hurt and affection. Without this accumulation of experiences and their responses, we are not; we are nothing if we have no name, no attachment, no belief. It is the fear of being nothing that compels us to accumulate; and it is this very fear, whether conscious or unconscious, that, in spite of our accumulative activities, brings about our disintegration and destruction. If we can be aware of the truth of this fear, then it is the truth that liberates us from it, and not our purposeful determination to be free,
为什么我们要储存奉承和侮辱、伤害和感情？ 没有这种体验的积累和它们的回应，我们就不是； 如果我们没有名字，没有执着，没有信仰，我们什么都不是。 正是对空虚的恐惧，迫使我们积攒； 正是这种恐惧，无论是有意的还是无意的， 不论我们如何去积攒，仍然导致了我们的分裂和毁灭。 如果我们能够意识到这种恐惧的真实性， 那么正是这个真实，将我们从中释放， 而不是我们有意图的决心，
You are nothing. You may have your name and title, your property and bank account, you may have power and be famous; but in spite of all these safeguards, you are as nothing. You may be totally unaware of this emptiness, this nothingness, or you may simply not want to be aware of it; but it is there, do what you will to avoid it. You may try to escape from it in devious ways, through personal or collective violence, through individual or collective worship, through knowledge or amusement; but whether you are asleep or awake, it is always there. You can come upon your relationship to this nothingness and its fear only by being choicelessly aware of the escapes. You are not related to it as a separate, individual entity; you are not the observer watching it; without you, the thinker, the observer, it is not. You and nothingness are one; you and nothingness are a joint phenomenon, not two separate processes. If you, the thinker, are afraid of it and approach it as something contrary and opposed to you, then any action you may take towards it must inevitably lead to illusion and so to further conflict and misery. When there is the discovery, the experiencing of that nothingness as you, then fear – which exists only when the thinker is separate from his thoughts and so tries to establish a relationship with them – completely drops away. Only then is it possible for the mind to be still; and in this tranquillity, truth comes into being.
你什么都不是。 您可能拥有您的姓名和头衔，您的财产和银行帐户， 您可能拥有权力和名声； 但是，尽管拥有这所有的保障措施，你还是一无所有。 你可能完全没有意识到这种空虚，这种虚无， 或者你可能根本不想意识到它； 但它在那里，不管你如何逃避它。 你可能尝试用各种狡猾的方式来逃避， 通过个人的或集体的暴力，通过个人的或集体的崇拜， 通过知识或娱乐来逃避； 但无论你是睡着还是醒着，它总在那里。 只有通过无选择地意识到这些逃避， 你才能发现，你与这种虚无，以及它所带来的恐惧之间的关系。 作为一个分离的、个别的实体，您与它无关； 你不是观察它的观察者； 没有你，这个思想者，观察者，不在。 你和虚无是一。 你和虚无是一个联结，而不是两个分离的进程。 如果你，思想者，害怕它， 并把它当作与你对立，与你对抗的东西， 那么你对它采取的任何行动，都不可避免地导致幻觉， 从而进一步加剧冲突与痛苦。 当发现、体验到你即那个虚无， 那么恐惧 —— 只有当思想者与他的思想分开， 并试图建立关系时，恐惧才存在 —— 完全地消亡。 只有这样，头脑才有可能停下。 在这种安宁中，真理冒了出来。